The Silver Key

Dream Cycle

by H.P. Lovecraft

"The Silver Key" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, considered part of his Dreamlands series. It was first published in the January 1929 issue of Weird Tales. It was followed by a sequel, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key", co-written with E. Hoffmann Price.

The story and its sequel both feature Lovecraft's recurring character of Randolph Carter as the protagonist.

"The Silver Key" is thought to have been inspired in part by Lovecraft's visit to Foster, Rhode Island, where his maternal ancestors lived. The character Benijah Corey from the story seems to combine the names of Emma Corey Phillips, one of Lovecraft's relatives, and Benejah Place, a farmer who lived across the street from the home where Lovecraft stayed.[1]

Carter's search for meaning through a succession of philosophical and aesthetic approaches may have been inspired by J. K. Huysmans' A rebours (1884), whose main character undertakes a similar progression.

Randolph Carter discovers, at the age of 30, that he has gradually "lost the key to the gate of dreams." Randolph once believed life is made up of nothing but pictures in memory, whether they be from real life or dreams, and he highly prefers his romantic nightly dreams of fantastic places and beings, as an antidote for the "prosiness of life", believing his dreams to reveal truths missing from man's waking ideas, regarding the purpose of humans and the universe, primary among these being the truth of beauty as perceived and invented by humans in times past. As he ages, though, he finds that his daily waking exposure to the more "practical", scientific ideas of man, has eventually eroded his ability to dream as he once did, and has made him regretfully subscribe more and more to the mundane beliefs of everyday, waking "real life". But still not certain which is truer, he sets out to determine whether the waking ideas of man are superior to his dreams, and in the process, he passes through several unsatisfying philosophical stances. Discouraged, he eventually withdraws from these lines of inquiry, and goes into seclusion. After a time, a hint of the fantastic enters his dreams again, though he is still unable to dream of the strange cities of his youth, leaving him wanting more. During one of these dreams, his long-dead grandfather tells him of a silver key in his attic, inscribed with mysterious arabesque symbols, which he finds and takes with him on a visit to his boyhood home in the backwoods of northeastern Massachusetts (the setting for many of Lovecraft's stories), where he enters a mysterious cave that he used to play in. The key somehow enables him to return to his childhood as a ten-year-old boy, and his adult self disappears from his normal time. The story then relates how Randolph's relatives had noted, beginning at the age of ten, that he had somehow gained the ability to glimpse events in his future. The narrator of the story then states that he expects to meet Randolph soon, in one of his own dreams, "in a certain dream-city we both used to haunt", reigning there as a new king, where the narrator may look at Randolph's key, whose symbols he hopes will tell him the mysteries of the cosmos.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, Audiobook

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.

Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

— Wikipedia

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

H.P. Lovecraft tells the story of Randolph Carter in this book.

He tells us what happens when a child becomes an adult. The vagaries of the reality of adult life compared to the dreams during his childhood are disturbing Randolf. Amid all these idiosyncracies, he discovers a mysterious silver key. What is the use of this silver key? The author tries to tell it through this book.

My favorite three lines from this book.

“Well-meaning philosophers had taught him to look into the logical relations of things, and analyze the processes which shaped his thoughts and fancies.”

“Wise men told him his simple fancies were inane and childish, and even more absurd because their actors persist in fancying them full of meaning and purpose as the blind cosmos grinds aimlessly on from nothing to something and from something back to nothing again, neither heeding nor knowing the wishes or existence of the minds that flicker for a second now and then in the darkness”

“Calm, lasting beauty comes only in dream, and this solace the world had thrown away when in its worship of the real it threw away the secrets of childhood and innocence.”

This book has some interesting philosophical musings. The author is trying to describe something crucial that will make you contemplate for a long time. This book is not something that everyone will like. If you are someone who loves philosophy, it will be a good choice.


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[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although “The Silver Key” (1926)--a reworking of an idea previously used in “The Tomb” (1917)--may be a superficially minor and uncharacteristic effort, it is still an essential element in the Lovecraft canon. This charming combination of Dunsanian narrative, philosophical reflection and gothic atmosphere is the bridge connecting all the Randolph Carter tales, and is also contains some evocative details of Lovecraft's autobiography, only thinly disguised.

It tells of Randolph Carter, a man who, having dreamed great dreams in childhood, was seduced from the gifts of his own imagination by the limited virtues of realism, the promises of science, the sham beauties of religion, the stark emptiness of atheism, and finally by the false dreams of the occult, until he came to believe in nothing, surviving only through his “love for harmony.” Then, one day, he discovers what is literally the key to his childhood dreams, and he returns to the countryside of his boyhood haunts to unlock the door.

The boyhood haunts he returns to looks suspiciously like the town of Foster, Rhode Island, the home of a maternal great uncle he first visited when he was six years old:

[H]e speeded up the car...and did not slacken till he had mounted the hill where his mother and her fathers before her were born, and where the old white house still looked proudly across the road at the breathlessly lovely panorama of rocky slope and verdant valley, with the distant spires of Kingsport on the horizon, and hints of the archaic, dream-laden sea in the farthest background...

I think one of the reasons I liked this story so much is that, for once, H.P. allows himself a happy ending. For once, the quest ends, not in an inferno of madness, but in the divina commedia of dreams.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randolph Carter lost the way into his dreams. Reality and everyday life took over. But what happens when he finds an old silver key in a wooden box? Can he go back to all the mysterious countries of his childhood? His car is found parked next to his house. Randolph is missing... Lovecraft describes in a very descriptive language how unpoetic our reality has become and how shallow life is. He gives you the key for escape, he sends you into a dream world. A bit eerie, a bit critical of society a whole lot of Lovecraft. Recommended!

[Orient · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Buddy Read - research with and awesome GR friend Craig into Lovecraft :)

A nice short story with a bit of historical spices :)



Maybe a



An definitely a mysterious key!!! :)

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something just a touch fantastical, haunting and philosophically astute that I love about HPL's dream cycle stories, and this one in particular, despite quite a few passages that feel much too dense and thematically repetitive. In essence, the story is about a man who is able, after long dreary years, to unfetter the shackles of his imagination as he possessed in his youth. The shackles placed there by the mundane constraints, norms and inanities of society and its many institutions. Of course, it wouldn't be Lovecraft without some elements being cast in shadow and otherworldly mystery.

[Mohammad · Rating 3 out of 5]

لاوکرفت، نیکولا تسلای دنیای ادبیاته. یا برعکس؛ تسلا، لاوکرفتِ جهان علم

[Mohammad Ranjbari · Rating 5 out of 5]

حکایتی دیگر از قلم سحرانگیز لاوکرافت. همیشه بُعدی دیگر از مضمون‌پردازی و تداعی معانی را در آثارش حس می‌کنم. انگار از خلال نوشتن تو را با هر چیز ملموس و ناملموس آشنا می‌کند. ترکیباتی که به کار می‌برد، خَلقیات و تصاویر و کلمات و شخصیت‌ها و روایت، همه و همه طبیعی و زیبا جاگذاری شده‌اند. نویسنده‌ای که به‌نظرم در سطح جهانی باز هم از این سرآمدتر و مشهورتر خواهد شد.

1402/10/02

[Rocio Voncina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Titulo: La llave de plata
Autor: H.P. Lovecraft
Motivo de lectura: -
Lectura / Relectura: Lectura
Mi edicion: Electronico
Puntuacion: 4.5/5

Llevo decadas sin leer algo de Lovecraft.
Este cuento me recordo la belleza de su prosa, de una profundidad digno de un genio talentoso.

La trama es en gran medida onirica, con ciertos sabores realistas, una trama muy sensorial, que invita al lector a sumergirse dentro de un mundo entre fantastico y la nostalgia de los recuerdos vividos. La historia gira entre una ambientacion calida/dulce y la espectativa de cumplir la mision de recuperar aquello que esta perdido.

Esto va mas alla de una historia de ficcion. Siento que Lovecraft aborda la monotonia de una vida cotidiana, y lo que ocurre cuando una persona adulta se aburre de su presente, y comienza a cuestionarse que hay mas alla de todo lo que esta a su alrededor. Esa busqueda de reencontrar el sentido a la vida, encontrar una zona de confort que sea grata en toda su extension.
Esto parece un ensayo de lo que es una crisis existencial! :)

Me encanto!

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randolph Carter lost his connection to the dream world. All those practical ideas and science from the real world almost destroyed his ability to dream at all.
So, he sets out to find out which is superior.

[Amirsaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

داستانی که لاوکرفت روایت می‌کند، بیش از آن‌که قصه‌گو باشد، در پی نشان دادن حقانیت فراماده است. چالش اساسی داستان او، باورپذیری تدریجی معتقدان به علم و عصر روشنگری است به نیروهای فرازمینی و کیهانی. لاوکرفت طرفدار مکتب «شگفت مخوف» است؛ معتقد است برای آفریدن وحشت در داستان باید از «ناشناخته‌ها» کمک گرفت. او ادبیات ترسناک بدون عنصر شگفت را نوعی واقع‌گرایی شوم می‌داند؛ و اگر در گره‌گشاییِ داستان از منطق و استدلال استفاده شود، داستان کارآگاهی ساخته می‌شود و نه وحشت کیهانیِ مدنظر لاوکرفت.
نیمه‌ی دوم کتاب یک مقاله از لاوکرفت است که بررسی تاریخ ادبیات ماوراءالطبیعه است، از دوران گوتیک و فاوست تا آلن‌پو و عصر طلایی ادبیات علمی‌تخیلی و فانتزی. لاوکرفت در مقاله‌ی بلندش کتاب‌ها و نویسنده‌های بسیاری را مرور می‌کند که معروف‌ترین‌شان فرانکشتاین و دراکولا هستند. غالبا نقطه‌ی وحشت‌آفرینی روایت‌ها را تعریف می‌کند و حساس است به این‌که سبک فاخر نویسنده‌ها با احساساتی‌گرایی تنزل نیابد.

در کانالم چهار داستان کوتاه دیگر از لاوکرفت قرار داده‌ام و کمی بیشتر از دنیای او نوشته‌ام.

[Knjigoholičarka · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Srebrni ključ" je knjižica koja se sastoji iz tri priče: "Izjava Randolfa Kartera", "Srebrni ključ" i "Kroz kapije srebrnog ključa". Zaplet je vrlo jednostavan (više-manje, kao i u svim Lavkraftovim knjigama) - Randolf Karter, mističar poreklom iz - gle čuda - Arkama, pokušava da pronađe put do svojih izgubljenih snova iz detinjstva. Negde u kasnim godinama, to mu uspeva uz pomoć mističnog srebrnog ključa, tako da dobija ne samo pristup nekada davno sanjanim svetovima, već i mnogo širem i neverovatnijem znanju poreklom iz drugih dimenzija Kosmosa. Uglavnom, da vam ne spojlujem, Lavkraft osmišlja interesantan koncept Multiverzuma (ne toliko naučni, naravno, koliko okultan), kao i Vremena (ono nije linearno već prošlost, sadašnjost i budućnost postoje istovremeno - možemo se kretati Vremenom ne samo "od napred ka nazad", već i obrnuto, kao i "levo-desno"... što je u principu i koncept koji je Kurt Vonegat izneo u nekoj svojoj knjizi, al' da me ubijete, ne sećam se kojoj... možda je malo prepisivao od ćaće Lavkrafta).

Elem, ono što se mene više dojmilo u ovoj knjizi jeste bolno otvoren autobiografski portret autora kroz lik Randolfa Kartera:

Mnogo je čitao o stvarima onakvim kakve jesu i razgovarao o tome sa isuviše mnogo ljudi. Dobronamerni filozofi učili su ga da istražuje logične odnose stvari i da analizira procese koji mu uobličavaju vlastite misli i snove. Čuda je nestalo i on je zaboravio da je sav život samo niz slika u mozgu, među kojima nema razlike između onih koje rađa stvarnost i onih koje rađa unutrašnje, lično sanjarenje, i da nema razloga da se jedne cene više od drugih. Stalnim navikavanjem utuvila mu se u glavu sujeverna pobožnost prema onome što opipljivo i fizički postoji i potajna posramljenost što sam živi u snovima. (...) A kad nije uspeo da pronađe divote u stvarima čiji zakoni su bili znani i merljivi, kazali su mu da mu nedostaje mašta i da je nezreo, zato što su mu se više dopadali prividi iz snova od privida našeg fizičkog sveta.

Lavkraft po prirodi nije bio osoba s kojom biste se rado družili ili išli na pivce. Introvertan i sputan konzervativnim vaspitanjem svoje novoengleske porodice, posmatrajući bolesti i smrt najbližih, bolešljiv, slab i mučen košmarima još kao dete, Lavkraft se nigde nije osećao tako sigurno kao u svom rodnom Providensu. Bio je ksenofob, rasista, voleo je da izlazi iz kuće tek posle sumraka i apsolutno mu je bilo nevažno što krcka i poslednje parice porodičnog nasleđa dok polako umire u bedi. Sve ovo, kao i večite priče o spaljivanju veštica iz Salema, terale su Lavkrafta na večito preispitivanje moći pojedinca u ogromnom svetu mogućnosti. Kao što i sam reče:

Now all my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large.

I tako, u zbirci priča "Srebrni ključ" eksplicitnost ovih Lavkraftovih omiljenih tema eskalira. Ne samo što daje autorov dirljiv autoportret, već u sceni prometejskog darivanja van-zemaljskog znanja Randolfu Karteru, prikazuje čovekovu nespremnost da prihvati sopstvenu beznačajnost u odnosu na neotkrivene mogućnosti sveta i sopstvenog uma:

Nema te smrti, tog prokletstva, te agonije koja može pobuditi onakvo sveporažavajuće beznađe koje nastaje kada se izgubi identitet. Utopiti se u ništavilo samo je smireni zaborav; ali biti svestan vlastitog postojanja, pa ipak znati da više nismo jedno određeno biće različito od ostalih, da više nemamo vlastito ja, to je bezimeni vrhunac agonije i užasa.

Pre nekoliko dana umro je Hari Din Stenton. U dokumentarcu "Partly Fiction" Dejvid Linč ga pita: "How would you describe yourself?" "As nothing. There is no self." "And how would you like to be remembered?" "It doesn't matter." Evo ne znam zašto sam ovo napisala, ali neka se nađe. Jer, sasvim je moguće živeti odgovoran život, a ne shvatati sebe previše ozbiljno. Na kraju krajeva, sve je ništavilo i svi smo tako mali pred tajnama Kosmosa i njegovim skrivenim znanjima.

[Zai · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5/5

Me encanta Lovecraft, su estilo narrativo, su mitología y sus relatos. Pero esta antología me ha decepcionado, está compuesta de 6 relatos y no me enterado de que trataban al menos en parte, en varios de ellos y otros han sido tremendamente raros, sólo puedo decir que lo he entendido el último relato de la antología, El libro.

Esta antología pertenece a la serie de el Ciclo Onírico, en su mayoría protagonizada por Randolph Carter, y está claro, que este tipo de relatos oníricos no son para mí.

[Iloveplacebo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5 / 5

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my favorite Lovecraft story. When I try to think of another I might rate higher I come up empty.

I see that I need to create another category or genre of fiction: the philosophical tale. The story that asks what is the meaning, the purpose, of life? Wherein may ultimate truth be found? Others in this realm might be Sartre's play No Exit, The Razor’s Edge, Atlas Shrugged, Siddhartha, and Writing and Difference, to pick just the low-hanging fruit. I believe in reading Lovecraft's contribution to this genre we herein have his answer.

Did Farnwright initially reject this story and the contemporary readers of Weird Tales hate it because they didn't like Lovecraft's answer? Or did they dislike the story for it being nothing more interesting than the posing of this question and Lovecraft's attempted answer? Could they have viewed such questions as why live life and what does it all mean irrelevant? Or even worse, boring? Did they perhaps not realize Lovecraft was posing that question?

Maybe it is because Lovecraft's answer is controversial. He flogs many sacred cows. He starts out decrying the barrenness of mere science or materialism, goes on to reject religion's Absolutist answers so categorically asserted, as if desperate vehemence conferred Truth. Then he ridicules atheists for being as devoid of subtlety as science, and rude to boot. He goes on to point out the limits of even story-telling and questions imagination's possibility, the ability to return to the state of wonder that makes it mean anything once science has been learned and considered. If there's no purpose, no reason to live, what's left then but suicide? Lovecraft dodges this question other than to say one gets past it. And once one does, what then? People who have invested themselves in one of these answers are not going to appreciate Lovecraft's attempted demolition of their prized possession.

After the suicide suggestion, Lovecraft's answer to life's meaning and Truth becomes tricky to discern, making me appreciate it all the more. I think I get it. What's more, I've reached the stage now where I even agree with Lovecraft's conclusion. I've reached a similar one. I'm not going to break down Lovecraft's answer to a couple sentences reworded by me for this review. Not only would I be entering spoiler territory, but much would be lost in the attempted translation.

Read Lovecraft's answer for yourself. Do you get it? Do you agree?

This was Lovecraft's most meaningful story in my opinion. I expect it will be my perennial favorite.

[Baal Of · Rating 2 out of 5]

..the blind cosmos grinds aimlessly on from nothing to something and from something back to nothing again, neither heeding nor knowing the wishes or existence of the minds that flicker for a second now and then in the darkness.

This idea runs through almost every story Lovecraft writes, and this one hammers the point home incessantly. Layer on top of that the arrogant ennui of Randolph Carter, with his smug disapproval of all the humans who are just not up to his intellectual standards, as they muck about in the backwaters of science and philosophy. His constant refrain of how they just can't understand his brilliance and he is so alone could be interpreted as a kind of teenage diary from the cosmic void.

[Paloma orejuda (Pevima) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pues... me encanta como escribía este hombre, pero no me he enterado de nada.

Lo bueno: Es corto, se lee rápido y la prosa es muy buena.
Lo malo: La historia... de qué va? aún ahora, sigo sin saberlo.
Y no, no da miedo... aunque en algunas partes puede ser un poquito inquietante.

En fin, por todo ello, 2 estrellas sobre 5 ( A quién quiero engañar... 2 estrellas porque es Lovecraft, de lo contrario se llevaría 1).

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never let anyone else tell you what to think, lest you lose your own key to the gate of dreams.

[Fhionnuisce]

"I should ask him once I see him".

[David Sarkies · Rating 3 out of 5]

Home is Never Enough
7 January 2017

This is actually two short stories, though the second one pretty much follows on from where the first ends (and the first is much, much shorter than the second). Anyway, once again we meet up with Rudolph Carter, and this time he is looking for a special key. Apparently he lost it, which is a little confusing because it seems that he never actually had it in the first place (it turns out that the key is the key to his childhood wonder). Well, maybe he at one stage in his life knew where it was, but has forgotten where it was hidden so he has to spend some time trying to dig it up.

When we last left him he had been on this huge dream quest through this fantastic (and rather horrific) realm looking for a magnificent city, though at the end of that quest he does a Dorothy and realises that there truly is no place like home. Well, maybe that didn't really work out all that well for him because he is now looking for a key that will enable him to physically pass through into these alternate dimensions as opposed to simply relying on his ability to dream himself there. In a way it is like coming back from a really long holiday, collapsing on your own bed, in your own house, and breathing a sigh of relief that you no longer have to live out of a suitcase. In fact, you make a promise never to have such a trip again, that is until six months later when you suddenly realise that you always wanted to go to Budapest, and start planning (and saving) for your next trip.

Well, that seems to be the case with Mr Rudolph Carter, except that he isn't going to Budapest, he is travelling the dimensions, something that this mysterious silver key allows you to do. The problem is that the rest of the world basically thinks that he is dead, which is normally what people think when you disappear without a trace. It is even worse when you actually own property because all of a sudden a lot of people come out of the woodwork wanting a piece of the pie. Okay, from what I gathered, Rudolph didn't have any immediate family, but that didn't mean that there were people there that either were, or claimed to be, distant relatives. Since nobody has heard anything of him in ages, the assumption is that he is dead, and that it is time to divide up his property.

One thing we learn from this story is that during the witch trials at Salem, a lot of them basically left and set up their own community, at a place that happens to be Arkham. As a thought I wonder if there is a connection between Arkham Asylum in the Batman universe, and H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham. I suspect there is some influence there, though I'm not sure if I could consider Batman to be all that Lovecraftian. Though I still remember being in a comic shop when I was a teenager and I saw a comic about Arkham Asylum, and the owner politely explained that it had nothing to do with H.P. Lovecraft because it was Batman. I immediately returned the comic to the shelf.

I have to admit though that this wasn't one of my favourite stories, though there did happen to be an awesome twist at the end with saved it from all of the esoteric waffling that Lovecraft seemed to delve into during the first part of the second story. It was interesting, but seemed to be little different to the other short stories starring Rudolph Carter. However, the catch was that this seemed to be much, much more like a dream than the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath. Oh, I should mention that the second short story is called Through the Gate of the Silver Key.

Oh, and somebody also gets scared to death at the end, but I've come to expect that from Lovecraft.

[Ebster Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

"[They] could not escape from the delusion that life has a meaning apart from that which men dream into it; and could not lay aside the crude notion of ethics and obligations beyond those of beauty, even when all Nature shrieked of its unconsciousness and impersonal unmorality in the light of their scientific discoveries. Warped and bigoted with preconceived illusions of justice, freedom, and consistency, they cast off the old lore and the old ways with the old beliefs; nor ever stopped to think that that lore and those ways were the sole makers of their present thoughts and judgments, and the sole guides and standards in a meaningless universe without fixed aims or stable points of reference."

Carter's exestential musings made me feel like banging my head against the wall.

He basically realizes how meaningless the whole of existance is, and tries to invent meaning by retreating into the only thing he has left that gratifies him: his dreams.

I'm sure a lot of people who are disnechanted with reality could cling to this story, because he articulates some really deep stuff here, but I'm more unsettled by what he unveiled: namely that he has some pretty antisocial tendancies...so much so that he is untouched by things like suffering of his fellow creatures in WWI.

*commence head-pounding now*


There...now I feel much better!

[Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Randolph Carter is starting to become a celebrity based on how often he reappeared in H.P. Lovecraft's works!

This time Randolph Carter can't venture into Dreamland like he used to. Frustrated of his boring and dull life in his awaken state, he tries everything to have dreams full of imaginations again.

I really like the dream narratives of all these short stories, but this one felt a bit less adventurous and exciting as the others as the protagonist lost the ability to dream, to use his imagination. This resulted in a more dull tone than the previous dream narratives. Finding the silver key was definitely exciting, but not as existing as actually dreaming about something no man could imagine.

[Manuel Alfredo Collado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relato que nos habla de lo horribles que son las construcciones sociales y el mundo de los adultos que elimina la creatividad y propicia una falta de perspectiva en contraposición a la curiosidad y la mente abierta de los niños.

Se mantiene la cohesión con los relatos anteriores del ciclo onírico y nos revela más información acerca de los viajes en sueños.

[ζανλίκ · Rating 3 out of 5]

lasting beauty comes only in dream

[دانیال بهزادی · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب از دو بخش تشکیل شده. بخش نخست ‫کتاب که داستانیه و مجموعه‌ایه از سه داستان که جدا از هم نوشته شدند، ولی در کیهان لاوکرفت، به هم پیوسته‌اند و باید به ترتیب خونده بشن. گزینش داستان‌ها خوب و هوشمندانه بوده و و خواننده رو با دنیای پرهراس لاوکرفت به خوبی درگیر می‌کنه.
‫بخش دوم که البته بخش اعظم اون رو هم تشکیل می‌ده، مقاله‌ایه از لاوکرفت در باب هراس ماوراءالطّبیعه در ادبیات که در اون بیش‌تر به توضیح سبک ادبی خودش می‌پردازه و هدفش اینه که سبکش رو از داستان‌های ترسناک عادی تمیز بده. به شخصه وجود چنین مقاله‌ای در این کتاب نپسندیدم و ترجیح می‌دادم در جای دیگه‌ای، برای کسی که خودش علاقه‌منده به خوندنش، قرار داده می‌شد.
‫ترجمهٔ کتاب هم خیلی خوب و روان بود و از این جهت، به نظرم از کتاب قبلی لاوکرفت که خوندم (احضار کطولحو) بهتر عمل کرده بود.

[ნინო კერესელიძე · Rating 5 out of 5]

დავამთავრე და დიდი ხანი ვფიქრობდი რეცენზიის დაწერაზე, მაგრამ ყველა წამოწყებაზე რაღაც მაკლდა. მერე ჩემს თავში ჩავიხედე და მიხვდი, რომ იმიტომ ვერ ვწერდი ისე, როგორც მინდოდა, რომ არ ვამბობდი მთავარს. შეიძლება ვახსენებდი, მაგრამ არ ვამბობდი ისე, როგორც საჭირო იყო. ემოციურად უზომოდ მესმის მთავარი პერსონაჟის, კარტერის, იმიტომ რომ ეს ყველაფერი მეც გამივლია. კარტერისთვის ფანტაზიების, წარმოსახვების, მდიდარი ოცნებებისა და შინაგანი სამყაროს გარეშე, რეალობასთან პირისპირ დადგომა უაზრო და უფერული ხდება. ვერ იღებს რეალობას, ვერ ითავისებს, გონებრივ სამყაროში ჰორიზონტები ფართოა, თითქოს არის კიდევაც და არც არის აქ. გარემომცველ სამყაროში მისი სერიოზულად აღქმა უჭირთ, რადგან მიწიერი სამყარო მისთვის არაა და წარმოსახვას მთელი სულით ემონება. როცა გადაწყვეტს, რომ რეალობასთან სიახლოვე იპოვოს, შეგრძნებების სისავსეს კარგავს.
ჩემი ცხოვრების ყველაზე რთულ პერიოდში, რეალური, გარემომცველი სამყარო ტვირთად მესახებოდა, ჩემი საზრდო და ჩემთვის “პური” შინაგანი ემოციები, ჩემი წარმოსახვა და გონებრივი სამყარო იყო. საათობით ვკითხულობდი, საათობით დავდიოდი, საათობით ვფიქრობდი და თითქოს რეალობას ჩამოვშორდი, მაგრამ ვერ აგიხსნით, შეგრძნებები როგორი გამძაფრებული მქონდა. როცა რეალობას ნელ-ნელა დავუბრუნდი, იმ ყველაფერს განვიცდიდი რასაც ლავკრაფტი წერს. ის პერიოდი ბუნდოვანი, მძიმე, მაგრამ ამავე დროს უცნაურად ტკბილი ზმანებასავით დამრჩა.
წიგნის სხვა თემებზე არ ვილაპარაკებ ვრცლად, უბრალოდ ვიტყვი, რომ შთამბეჭდავად ასახავს თავის ნოსტალგიას ბავშვობის პერიოდისადმი, მისი ეს მელანქოლიური ტონიც მომწონს, რომლითაც გადმოსცემს თუ როგორ აქრობს ზრდასრულობა ბავშვობის მაგიურ ელფერს.
ეს არის ლავკრაფტი. ეს მოთხრობა ზუსტად ასახავს მთელ მის იდეოლოგიას, ცხოვრებას, სირთულეებს, კოშმარებს. და ეს ვარ მეც. ვინაიდან და რადგანაც I’ve been there and I’m a sucker for escapism.
ლავკრაფტის დღეს მესმის და დღეს მიყვარს ისე, როგორც არასდროს.

[النا رهبری · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovecraft is my comfort writer and Randolph Carter is my comfort character! FE:')

در دوره‌ها و زندگی های مختلف، برمی‌گردم و دوباره و دوباره این کتابو میخونم

۴.۵ ستاره

[Monse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empezábamos bien, Carter filosofaba sobre los sueños, y como estos suelen ser más apasionantes que vivir en la realidad que muchas veces puede ser chata o excesivamente racional (según Carter). Pero a medida que avanza la historia, simplemente Lovecraft la cag*. Pasamos de la filosofía del protagonista, a que este nos recuerde tiempos de su niñez para terminar suponiendo que Randolph logró ir al "mundo de los sueños" a ser, quizás, el rey de otro mundo. ¿Pero capaz todo eso lo soñó? .
Pensé que con este cuento, el autor quiso proponernos otra cosa, un cuento con un personaje más reflexivo, simplemente que cuestione su vida y la vida en general; y no que termine inmerso en un mundo de fantasía.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems almost semi-autobiographical as H.P. Lovecraft writes a tale about a man who dreams strange dreams, and those around him who try and force him into the real world, and the protagonist's search for a silver key which will let him return to his dreams.

[Kat Steinke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed the second part a _lot_ more if the first part hadn't felt so much like "NOBODY UNDERSTANDS MY UNIQUE AND COMPELLING TALE OF WOE. Also, everyone sucks."

[SMLauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pesar de lo raro que es, me ha gustado.
Toda la mitología que creó Lovecraft es muy muy interesante y sin duda seguiré leyendo cosas suyas para conocer su mundo.